FBI/UCR-NIBRS Implementation and Challenges Round Table: Mary Lou Randour from the Animal Welfare Institute and Lisa Lunghofer from the Animals and Society Institute led this round table, which began with a review of the NIBRS definition and data values for animal cruelty. The group then discussed how to implement this new category in NIBRS with the two major professional groups that will be responsible for its implementation:

1) the approximately 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and

2) the patchwork of agencies that respond to animal cruelty calls, including humane societies, SPCAs, municipal and county animal control agencies, and state departments of agriculture. Ms. Drema Foch, Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS), FBI participated in the session and will be the “point person” at CJIS during the implementation process. It was noted that systematic outreach to and training of the NIBRScertified LEAs would be necessary. All NIBRS data must be submitted by LEAs; however, an interagency agreement may facilitate the reporting of data from a non-LEA agency to an LEA agency. This is one possible strategy for local humane societies and animal control officers to report animal cruelty incidents to LEAs for inclusion in NIBRS. Action Item: A work group was formed to outline specific strategies for facilitating information sharing between LEAs and humane societies and animal control organizations.

Today, in a speech at the National Sheriffs’ Association Winter Conference in Washington, D.C., Director Comey discussed the Bureau’s current priorities as well as collective issues facing the law enforcement community as a whole. He specifically highlighted our number one priority—counterterrorism—and talked about how the proliferation of al Qaeda offshoot groups and the use of the Internet to spread terrorist propaganda and recruit new members complicates our efforts. He focused on the need for a national conversation on the Going Dark issue, in which a combination of outdated laws and rapid changes in technology is making it increasingly difficult for law enforcement to access the evidence needed to prosecute crime and prevent terrorism. Comey also discussed the recent increase in shootings and ambush-style attacks against law enforcement officers and said that law enforcement personnel and the communities they serve both need to better understand each other’s concerns and the challenges they face.

According to FBI Assistant Director Kerry Sleeper, who heads the Bureau’s Office of Partner Engagement, Director Comey’s meetings with law enforcement groups like the National Sheriffs’ Association “reinforce the Bureau’s stated commitment to collaborate and share information with our state and local law enforcement partners.”

After Comey’s remarks, he was presented with an award from the National Humane Society for approving—at the request of the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Animal Welfare Institute—the addition of animal cruelty offenses as a separate category in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. The collection of this data will begin in 2016.